The Slow Fashion Movement With Mimi Miller

Mimi Miller is the designer and owner of MIMI MILLER WOMENSWEAR, a womenswear line focused on the mission to provide longer and looser silhouettes for women without compromising style and comfort.

Ahead, Mimi shares the meaning of the term "slow fashion", and the significant impact this movement has on our wallet and the environment . . .

With new attention being brought to understanding where and how our clothes are being made, the term “slow fashion” seems to keep popping up more and more. Most of us have probably heard the term “fast fashion”, and you guessed it-slow fashion is the exact opposite of that. Slow fashion is the idea of investing in a few high quality pieces that you can mix and match with almost anything in your wardrobe and wear for years, as opposed to one or two seasons.

Brands and designers who consider themselves to contribute to the slow fashion scene, like myself, tend to design really simple, non trendy styles in fairly neutral colors, with sometimes a pop of color here and there. The thought behind this is that the simpler the garment and textile used, the slower it will move through the fashion cycle thus taking it longer for it look out of style. You might be thinking to yourself, “these clothes sound super boring, isn’t fashion supposed to be fun?” Yes! You are totally right! Fashion is definitely supposed to be fun and we should all have a few unique, specialty pieces in our wardrobe to wear from time to time. However, our wardrobe should be stocked with simple go-to pieces rather than a bunch of trendy items, it has a bigger impact than you think!

The slow fashion movement affects much more than just our wardrobe, it impacts your wallet and most importantly, our environment.

Before making the change to slow fashion myself, I can remember purchasing a dress from a fast fashion retailer for about $40 only to have the strap rip, zipper break, or find a hole in the seam after a few weeks of wear. I would then have to go out and replace the dress, paying the same price if not more than I did the first time. Say the dress becomes defective again, I’ve now paid for this item three times and have spent a minimum of $120.

C.E. Photography

With slow fashion, you may be paying a little more in the beginning but the chances of you having to replace the item any time soon is very slim. In terms of our environment, clothing makes up much of our landfill. In fact, the average american throws away 82 pounds of clothing a year, allowing the dyes and metals from the notions and fabrics used to be absorbed into the soil. By adopting the slow fashion mindset, there would be no need to throw away this many clothes each year, thus reducing the waste in our landfills. That being said, if for whatever reason you want to get rid of an item, please donate it! There are many people in need who could use, and would appreciate, your gently worn clothing and it’s one less item to go into the landfill!

Creating a slow fashion wardrobe is easier than you think! My brand, Mimi Miller, Womenswear, offers women pieces that can be worn casually on a day off, or to the office. These are the types of styles you should start to look for and incorporate into your closet. This will allow you to get the most wear out of the pieces and give you an excuse to wear your favorite blouse, skirt, or dress all the time!